Fuse ODG, on his Instagram, posted a photo of a billboard as seen in Ghana.

He asked that the billboard be taken down all over Africa, else people would do it for the brand. He added the hashtag #PULLITDOWNNOW. He wrote:

Dear Nivea,
Kindly take down these billboards you have placed all over our beloved countries in Africa. I saw this one with my own eyes today in Ghana and we love our complexion the way it is. And if you don’t take these down. We will.
Every African everywhere should stop buying any Nivea product. Tag the Nivea branch from your country so they understand how foolish this is!
With love

The call out has elicited mixed reactions from social media users with some saying the ad is not insensitive because some people who may desire fairer skin may not necessarily intend to bleach or tone; while others say it is insensitive to dark-skinned persons adding that it subtly suggests that fair skin is better.

Another group of persons say the problem is not Nivea or any other brand with ad campaigns such as this, but an issue of demand and supply because if customers or potential customers do not suggest they need fairer skin, brands won’t run such ad campaigns. This group ads that the ultimate goal for the brands is to make money.

Second ad this month to be called out? This ad actually came out MONTHS before the Dove ad. It was a ridiculous sight to see, but of course we Africans ignored it, we always ignore the bull. This ad has been placed in supermarkets all over Nigeria, I see it all the time. But we’re so used to accepting crap and depreciating ourselves that we never saw it as a big deal. Now because noise has been made about Dove, our eyes don dey clear abi?

What the hell is “Visibly clearer skin” anyways? Sounds so stupid lol.

You guys need to stop with all the ranting about racism. Some black ppl obviously want “visiibly fairer skin” just the same way some white ppl want tanned “ darker” skin . This particular ad isn’t racist in anyway

@please stop, I just tire oo … some people want lighter skin leave them to buy it, you that you don’t want it don’t buy it, buy what makes your melanin pop … skin lightening has nothing to do with inferiority complex, its just a beauty option just the way people use make-up or hair extensions or wear skin-tight clothes … did the ad state dark skin is inferior or useless? NO It is for those that want lighter skin shikena! Be proud of your natural hair don’t use extensions unless you have inferiority complex, why fix extra nail extensions? Are you not confident? You have low self-esteem … in fact use of make-up is for the least confident of people … see how ridiculous it sounds! Is it because this is skin? Those who fix extra eyelashes are confident people abi lol Skin-lightening is just a beauty option and has nothing to do with personality in every case

Do you think these people don’t know about african women and bleaching??? They have done their reseaech well o!
You/We got played, lolz.
Nivea is just cashing into your/our inferiority complex regarding “visibly fairer” skin.
You don’t think Nivea (which means snow by the way) will make you “visibly fairer”, do you? It’s just another good-smelling moisturizer, C’mon!

And these foreign companies are making billions in Africa smh.. Inferiority complex robbing Africans of their identity smh! Well i am of opinion that modernity and colonialism of Africa had a significant psychological effect on our women.It made our women to believe that people with lighter skins are beautiful..and we have a long way to go in our bid to break this barrier of ignorance.Only in Africa especially in Nigeria where we hate our skins,hair and hate being black.Should we not pose and ask ourselves some poignant questions?Do we have such an inferiority complex to fail to appreciate the wonderful melanin the maker endowed us with?Do our women lack confidence? Do they need reassurance from us men that they are beautiful with their natural hair and skin?

African women especially Nigerian women are suffering from a disease called inferiority complex.It’s a sad reality that we as Africans are easily influenced by other cultures and traditions and we are ready to embrace them but little can be said about our own.We want to talk,dress and act western.Our so called celebrities are mimicking western accents and dressing.It’s so disheartening to see young women who have lost touch with their identity.It’s even more disheartening when we older Africans who have lost touch because one would expect us to know better.BTW you are free to do whatever you want but it’s high time we all embrace who we are,our culture and our melanin skin…..

We don’t give a xxxx. They should take it down, whether it bleaches or not, don’t put words like fairer in your ads, we don’t need that bullshit, all other African countries can have and encourage this racist ad if you want, here in Ghana, we don’t want it. We will not be encouraging our youth to go for fairer skin. Love the skin you are in. Yes of course some low self esteem people bleach in this country bleach (why won’t they when they are being told fairer is better) but moving forward this is our movement to teach the generation after us just cos a white company comes to tell you fairer is good on billboards, magazines TV, music etc does not mean so. Most of us Ghanaians are beautifully dark and proud of it so who the hell are they marketing to. Edit your ad, Take it down or we do. Nsemfo kwa. This is 2017 and we are very woke (as we say in ebonics #staywoke, we are not are ancestors, we are smarter

as if deep deep down …she is not happy with how they light her skin…african women and pretense…tell it to the birds. I bet she has nivea product in her makeup table even dove…insecure set of people ..funny enough she is wearing a weave .. beleieve what ever comes out of nowadays black woman mouth at your own peril

Omowunmi really entered one chance with this advert o! I’m sure at the time of filming, she would have been happy because nivea is a global brand, but come and see the gbese they have dumped on her head! God o!

I don”t get it, are these companies dumb or are they just looking for publicity. You cant do this in Africa the same way you cant use a half naked woman to advertise your products in the Middle East. Learn your market and stop antagonizing the people you are trying to win over. Me I kuku went back to my grandmothers soap recipe all this mixtures they are selling us ehn!!!!!!

Replace “fairer” with “clearer” and it would have made perfect marketing sense. Most girls want clearer skin definitely, but not every girl wants “fairer” skin and that is where this ad falls flat on its face.

naa…. @joy. The right word is fairer, i can testify to that cos just 3 weeks use my skin became fairer and certainly clearer. It works just as stated. Pple should stop reading meaning into everythg. If you are insecure do something about it dont come crying on every ad campaign. in bwt…. how come no one seems to say anythg when phrases like “”melanin beauty”” is used….

I swear I saw this ad the other day and was telling my sister that Nivea knows how to market in Africa, obviously Nivea does not bleach but they do know the love of “light skin” in these parts and they decided to put that line out there cos some stupid Nigerian woman will see and go “eh see bleaching cream” and run to the mall 😂

Tell me about it. I tried it a few years back to recover from too much sun exposure and the thing no even lighten anything talkless of bleach. Just had me sweating anyhow. Jejely went back to Bio Oil and dealing with my new dark face and arms small small

YOU ALL HAVE BEEN PLAYED. NIGERIANS WILL NOT BUY PRODUCTS IF IT DOESN’T SAY FOR FAIRER SKIN. BLEACHING PRODUCTS HAVE TO BE BY FAR THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SKIN PRODUCTS IN NIGERIA.

TO PLAY DEVIL’S ADVOCATE I DON’T THINK ALL WOMEN WANT TO BLEACH BUT THE WEATHER, FOOD, HUMIDITY, POLLUTION, WATER AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS CAUSE A LOT OF WOMENS’ SKINS TO BREAK OUT THEREBY RESULTING IN HYPER-PIGMENTATION AND ACNE LADEN SKIN, HENCE THE REASON SOME WOMEN WANT PRODUCTS TO BLEACH AWAY THE DARK SPOTS ON THEIR SKIN. NIJA WOMEN STRUGGLE HEAVILY WITH ACNE. I KNOW A LOT OF LADIES WHO AS SOON AS THEY STEP FOOT IN NIGERIA BREAK OUT. I DONT REALLY THINK NIJA WOMEN WANT TO LOOK LIKE WHITE PEOPLE.

PS. NIVEA CREAM WHICH MOST OF US USE DURING WINTER BECAUSE OF ITS HEAVY OIL CONTENT ACTUALLY DARKENS YOUR SKIN. HOWEVER IT SERVES AS A DECENT BARRIER BETWEEN YOUR SKIN AND HARSH DRY WINTERS.

Yes this ad would be perfect here in Nigeria since 4 out of 5 women bleach. That’s a fact. Am I lying? Hydroquinone smelling nation. NIVEA if Ghana don’t want it bring it here, you will be fine here and sell millions. Inferiority complex nation